If you haven’t yet seen it in action, you can now create your own channel through the Instagram app or watch via a dedicated IGTV app or your PC/ or laptop.
You can start posting vertical videos, yes native vertical videos, right away.
That make so much sense given everything we do on mobile is in portrait/ vertical format — apps we use, messages we post, texts we receive, podcasts we listen to, and books we read — all in vertical mode which is how our smartphones work.
How can you use IGTV effectively
It’s very easy to use, and videos don’t have to be as ‘polished’ as they’ve become on YouTube for many influencers, content creators and brands, but you can make them look less raw than Instagram stories.
Like any form of social media you need to put strategic thought behind what you are doing.
IGTV may, or may not be the right platform for you, but it’s definitely worth trying if you already produce content on your blog, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, or podcast, OR if you’ve really not embraced any other platform yet.
You just record them on your phone, and can use a video editor, to make them look a bit better or add in other footage and music, for example, then upload them to IGTV direct from your phone.
A few fun facts:
- If you have a large following you get up to one hour upload length, but for us mere mortals it’s 10 minutes — which in my mind, is frankly long enough.
- You can add multiple links in the description to drive traffic to your website! This is huge, and something I didn’t do in my first two videos…oops!
- If you click those links above to my videos, you will see you can open them up on a PC or laptop too, even if you’re not on Instagram.
I really like this last point, as it means more people can find out about you, your work and what you stand for, without being limited to having to be on Instagram.
I must admit I personally like this tool as I love documenting and sharing on the go, but don’t always have wifi, especially when you’re traveling, so being able to capture videos on the spot, but upload them later, is liberating.
Sometimes the inspiration strikes and you just want to share so me wisdom, insights, your innermost thoughts, some motivation or an epiphany. Or perhaps your latest dance moves!
I highly recommend you focus on the following with IGTV:
- Always provide value — insight, tips, strategy or wisdom — with a personal touch. Give, give, give.
- If you don’t feel in the mood or ready for 1. then be entertaining — bring joy, humour and happiness into peoples’ lives.
- Create awareness around what you actually do, introduce yourself and tell people who you serve and what your why is.
- Showcase your work in a fun way or have others do it for you- I’ve seen video testimonials already and feedback with customers in an video interview style from Kimra Luna who’s in launch mode.
- Repurpose your work — James Wedmore is using it to share his podcast directly, others are taking their horizontal videos and editing or simply putting into a vertical background.
- Stand out — grab your instagram stories and roll them into one interesting video with music using the Quick app or Vue.
- Treat it like a Facebook live and post your video to your Facebook page or group after for more interaction.
- Always include a CTA (call to action) back to your website, or products, or a piece of content that they can learn further from.
I hope this has given you some insights into how use this new tool effectively.
If you shy away from social media completely, know that it’s here to stay — and has been since 2004 when Facebook started, but that you don’t have to be the face of your business to use it effectively.
Audio, product demonstrations, customer reviews…these are just some of the ways to be active and engaged without it being all about you.
If you’re an influencer, personal brand, coach, consultant, advisor….oh YES you know you need to get on this now, or continue to stick with using the tool you’re getting the best results from already, but always think about how you can improve on what you’re doing.
The world doesn’t need more crap content, but it does need more of your gifts. So get them out there!
Article culled from medium.com
